


So Desu

by CaffieneKitty



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Awesome Bobby, Episode Tag, Episode: s05e08 Changing Channels, Families of Choice, Fatherly Bobby Singer, Gen, POV Bobby Singer, Phone Calls & Telephones, Season/Series 05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-12
Updated: 2009-11-12
Packaged: 2017-12-30 06:06:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1015022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaffieneKitty/pseuds/CaffieneKitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The trouble with questions you don't understand...</p>
            </blockquote>





	So Desu

**Author's Note:**

> _Originally posted on Livejournal November 12, 2009_

"Hey, Bobby. You know Japanese, right?"

Bobby sighed. "And the short answer to that question would be 'Go try to pick up a girl that knows English and stop callin' me at 2 AM.'"

The line fell silent for a moment. "Sorry. It's... I'll call in the morning."

 _Something's up._ "I'm awake now, you may as well keep talkin'. Just don't ask me to go look anything up 'coz I don't have my wheels on."

"It's... I don't remember exactly what he said. It was the Trickster, and there was this game show..."

 _Game show?_ "If you're waking me up to tell me about some dream you had..."

"No, no, it was- There was this guy, he asked Sam a question in Japanese and the answer was 'Ruby'. Sam got it wrong and- it's not important. The guy asked me a question and I got it right. In Japanese. I need to know what I said."

Bobby leaned up on one elbow, cradling the phone between his ear and his shoulder and turned on the bedside lamp. "You spoke Japanese?"

"...It's complicated."

"Un-complicate it," Bobby growled.

"I shouldn't have called."

"Well you did, and I'm awake and if this turns out to be some lame-ass prank-"

"Bobby. The Trickster is- he's an angel."

Bobby could hear the big chunk of unsaid detail lurking behind Dean's words.

"An angel? You're sure?"

"Absolutely."

"Hunh. Fallen?"

"I don't think so."

"Hunh. This the same Trickster that we staked couple years back? The one that had you two at each other's throats?"

A hesitation. "Yeah. Same one."

"No wonder the staking didn't take." Bobby hitched himself up on the bed. "So, what's this all got to do with you speaking Japanese?"

"It's not- I answered the question, I don't know what the question was, but I answered it. I said 'so desu'."

"You said 'yes', basically."

Bobby heard Dean take a deep breath. "I said yes?"

"Yep. So desu. What was the question?"

"I don't frigging know, it was Japanese. I have no idea what I said yes to, Bobby." Dean's voice was tightening, rising in pitch. "What if the question was 'Do you give permission to let the archangel Michael possess you?'"

Bobby grunted. "I suspect I would still be sleeping, because I doubt the archangel Michael would be calling me at 2 AM to pick my brain about Japanese phrases he could look up online."

Nothing but silence and tense breathing came from Dean's end of the phone.

"Dean, relax. 'So desu' is an affirmative kind of yes, confirming a fact. More like 'it's true' or 'it is so' than yes. 'Doi suru' would be what you'd say to agree to a request."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. You didn't give permission for anything."

Dean let out a breath, the air hissing in the phone speaker. "Okay. Okay."

"You really think they'd trick you into agreeing like that?"

"I dunno. Zachariah took Sam's lungs away trying to get me to agree." There was a bitter snap to Dean's voice. "I wouldn't put anything past them."

"So, this Trickster-Angel. Is he with Zachariah's bunch?"

"No." Quick and certain.

"Free agent, like Castiel?"

Dean hesitated again. "Yeah, sort of."

From the hesitation, Bobby could tell there was a lot that Dean wasn't saying. He wanted to ask Dean when he and Sam would be coming back to South Dakota, what exactly had happened, whether they were okay, what curve ball the damn apocalypse had thrown at the two of them now. He knew he wasn't likely to get an answer to any of it. Not yet. Something had hit Dean hard, more than this Japanese thing. He wasn't ready to talk about whatever it was yet, but he called Bobby anyway.

Bobby rubbed a hand across his eyes. _Sometimes I miss being a friendless hermit._ "Not something you wanna discuss in a 2 AM phone call?"

"No. I don't even know... I should let you get to sleep."

"Yeah, you should." Bobby said gently. "You should get some too."

Silence from Dean's end of the call again.

"Try. Okay? Whatever you agreed was true, it'll keep."

"Yeah. Okay, Bobby. G'nite."

"G'nite Dean. Keep in touch, alright?"

"Yeah." The call disconnected.

 _Phone calls at two in the morning, talking about things that aren't what really needs talked about, just to be talking._ Bobby returned the receiver to the cradle, turned off the bedside lamp and lay back in the bed, staring at the dark ceiling above.

_Guess you get that sometimes with family._

\- - -  
(that's it.)

**Author's Note:**

> Post A/N: I know 'hai' is actually yes, 'so desu' was what was used in the show as 'yes', so there we are. All other linguistic assertions in this fic are Google-based.


End file.
